No Matter What
by freethenoise
Summary: The Doctor and Sarah Jane have an argument. After the Doctor says some nasty things to Sarah Jane, which he didn't mean, she tearfully storms out of the TARDIS, and soon finds herself in a thin line between life and death in a suspicious part of London. Can the Doctor save her in time, or it'll all be too late?


**Author's Note : ** Hi, everyone, I'm back with another one shot. This story features one of my favorite OTPs, Four and Sarah Jane! Please read and review, and tell me what you think! Enjoy the story! I do not own Doctor Who as it belongs to the BBC.

* * *

No Matter What

Sarah Jane was stalking the park in downtown London in below freezing temperature, in anger and sadness. She still remembered the very hurtful words that the Doctor spat out at her during a huge argument.

"Oh, you're just a stupid ape, why did I even take you in the first place? You weren't valuable to my adventures anyway," He said, angrily.

Those words shocked and hurt Sarah Jane to the extreme, suddenly losing her self esteem as a person, which led her to storm out of the TARDIS with tears streaming down her face. And to even think about it, made tears come down her face. She wiped her tears away and continued her way. Just then a suspicious looking man went by her side.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello," Sarah Jane replied, looking down.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Sarah Jane replied.

"Should I take you home?" The man asked.

"No, I'll find my way home, thank you very much," Sarah Jane replied curtly.

"Oh, no need to be cross. I was just being polite," the man replied.

"I don't need your politeness! I know exactly what thinking about. You want your way with me! But it's not going to happen! So I suggest you piss off!" Sarah Jane hissed.

Sarah Jane tried to walk away from the enemy but he wasn't having her attitude. He yanked her closer to him and grabbed her by the collar.

"Now, who on earth do you think you're speaking to?" the man asked.

"I was speaking to you! Now let go of me!" Sarah Jane grunted, trying to wriggle out of his hold got only tighter. He forced Sarah Jane to look at him.

"I believe you don't know who I am. I'm Slade. I'm one of the most known gangsters in London. I'm a con, I'm on the run. I could buy you. And nobody says 'no' to me, I don't take 'no' for an answer!" He said, yelling the last sentence.

Sarah Jane finally wiggled out of his grip, tripping over a crack on the pavement, making her land on the grass face first. The grass scraped her face significantly. She looked back at Slade who was coming close to her.

"No, get away from me!" Sarah Jane yelled, trying to get up, and run, but all she did with her hands and feet was dig into the dirt.

Slade went onto the grass, pinning Sarah Jane to the ground.

"Get off of me! GET OFF OF ME!" Sarah Jane shrieked out.

But the enemy was stubborn and tried to pin her hands to the ground, but Sarah Jane waved her hands all over the place. She felt a hand go up her thigh hidden inside her skirt. Realizing this, Sarah Jane kneed him in the groin and punched him in the jaw, making him roll off of her in pain. Sarah Jane took this time to quickly get up from the floor and to break into a run out of the park and down the street into the night.

* * *

The Doctor was frantically looking for Sarah Jane in the park, figuring that this was where Sarah Jane would be to calm down after their rather heated argument. He knew that this part of London was very suspicious, way worse at night. He looked in the playground, beside the lake, mostly all over the park. He took his hat off and ran his fingers through his curly hair in agitation and worry. He put his hat back on.

The Doctor didn't mean to say those nasty things to Sarah Jane. He was just angry about what transpired in that moment. Now he was angry at himself, with the thought that Sarah Jane would probably be in danger at this moment. All because of one single sentence. It was completely foolish and the utmost stupidity of the Doctor to be so ignorant of a human's feelings. He thought that Sarah Jane would ignore his comment.

"Nice going, Theta, the girl probably got snatched off the streets because of you. You should have kept your big mouth shut," The Doctor thought to himself.

With that thought, the Doctor growled and kicked the tree next to him, which did no trick to take out his anger and worry.

"Oh, Rassilon, if anything happens to Sarah, I'm never going to forgive myself," the Doctor thought out loud. He sighed heavily and rubbed his palms in his face and readjusted the hat on his head.

It would haunt him for the rest of his life, even his future incarnations would remember this incident vividly and would shudder and cringe in remorse and guilt.

Just then, through his keen hearing as a time lord, he heard Sarah Jane's screams echoing out of the main entrance of the park, down the street of the rundown, dangerous neighborhood. This alarmed the Doctor, making his hearts beat faster than a hummingbird, his blood run cold, his face turning pale as a ghost.

"Sarah!" The Doctor yelled out, running towards the main entrance, jumping over a high shrub. He looked at the ground and saw a sign of struggle on the grass.

"No. No! This can't be happening!" the Doctor whispered in fright. He heard Sarah Jane's screams of terror once more.

He sprinted down the street, out of the park, following the sound of Sarah Jane screaming.

* * *

Sarah Jane was running down the street in the night, in fear with tears streaming down her face, a bloody lip, with bruises all over her arms, legs and face. Her brown hair, tangled in dirt and grass whipping in the cold winter wind, and her clothes bloodied and torn. She had blisters forming on the soles on her feet from all that running. She thought an uppercut to the jaw and a kick to the groin would slow Slade down. She didn't know where she was going, just away from him. All she heard was her heavy breathing and her uncontrollable sobbing. She ran into an alley to hide from the attacker, hoping that he would give up and leave her alone. She went behind trash cans and crouched, legs stinging from from the bruises and muscle movement. She scanned the place to see if he found her. Sarah Jane sighed in relief and tried to find her way home. Suddenly she felt someone yank her hair and slam her into the cinderblock wall. She winced from the pain in her head and her whole body. He then had her in a chokehold, with a pocket knife held against her face.

"So, you think that you can run from me? A punch in the jaw would do the trick? Huh?" Slade asked, his voice velvety but deadly.

"Oh, please, j-just leave me alone, please! I-I'll give you money, f-fifty quid, just please, don't do this to me!" Sarah Jane stammered, shivering in the cold.

"You think that money would keep me away? You must be one of the stupidest girls I've ever met!" Slade spat out making Sarah Jane tremble.

"Then what do you want from me?!" Sarah Jane yelled, immediately feeling remorse for her stupidity asking that question.

"My dear girl, isn't it obvious?" Slade replied, with a sick smile creeping across his face.

He then used the knife to lift up her dress. Sarah Jane was alarmed at this, and started to yell protests.

"Oh, my God, don't do this to me!" she sobbed.

"Or what? You'll get the police? Superman's coming? Give me a break!" Slade laughed.

"No! Please!" Sarah Jane protested, a wave of sobs slurring the word "please".

She tried to get out of his grasp, but his grip was very strong.

"Oh, you like it rough? I already like you," Slade said.

Those words made Sarah Jane sob uncontrollably. She knew that she was about to be raped and there was nobody there to save her. Not even the Doctor was there. After all, he thinks Sarah Jane was useless as a companion, so why bother? He probably went to another planet now with his police box, maybe looking for another companion that's better and smarter than her. The tears couldn't stop at that thought.

"Oh, stay still. And stop that crying!" Slade said coldly.

Sarah Jane cried even harder.

"I said shut up!" Slade yelled.

With that, a slash of pain ripped across her face. Sarah Jane fell to the ground at the impact. She tasted blood in her mouth, and her nose was runny with blood as well. Her body was aching with pain so much that she couldn't get up. Her vision went into a blur. She felt Slade climb on top of her.

"Now you're mine," Slade said with a deadly tone.

"NO!" Sarah Jane screamed out.

Just then a deep familiar voice shrieked out,

"_GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!_"

She felt Slade get off of her and say,

"Or what? What are you going to do, you skinny bloke?"

Just then, Sarah Jane saw silhouettes of Slade being tackled to the ground and beaten senseless by the man, whom Sarah Jane figured as a good Samaritan who didn't like what he saw. The man yanked Slade off from the floor and was tossed like a rag doll from the railing of the fire escape, with a big bang, to the trash cans. The man took the knife laying on the floor and held it over his neck.

"If I ever see you put your hands on the girl, you'll regret it!" The man growled at Slade.

Police sirens were heard and it came close to where they were. Sarah Jane felt blinding lights and heard the wheels of the car screech to a halt. She heard doors open and close.

"What's going on here?" The policeman asked.

"I saw him try to rape her," the man replied, still having him in a chokehold.

"All right, let him go," another policeman said.

The man obliged and the policemen lifted Slade from off the floor and handcuffed him. Sarah Jane felt arms go around her.

"Well, well. Ashley Houghton. Wanted all across London. Never thought I'd see the day." The first policeman.

"Ashley? Isn't that a girl's name?" The man asked innocently, warm breaths puffing on Sarah Jane's neck.

The policemen were doubled over in laughter probably at Slade's expense, when the man wasn't trying to be funny in the first place. Sarah Jane tried to chuckle but it was too painful. She only uttered a weak smile.

"It is," Slade sneered.

"Get in the car," the second policeman spat out. The doors closed.

"What about the girl? Shall we get an ambulance? She doesn't look too well, I think she needs medical attention," the first policeman asked.

"No need, officers. I'm a Doctor," the man replied rather proudly, one hand rubbing Sarah Jane's shoulder.

"All right, suit yourself," the second policeman said.

Sarah Jane felt the lights fade to black as the policemen with Slade in the car drove away. She was lifted off the ground into strong arms. She felt a little better.

"Don't worry, you'll be alright," he said to her.

Sarah Jane fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

Sarah Jane's eyes opened slowly to a white surface. Her vision became more clear and she realized that she was back in the TARDIS, in her room. She sat up and rubbed her eyes groggily. She was still in the clothes that she was attacked in. She got off the bed and limped over to the mirror. She looked at herself and she saw the blood cleaned off, scrapes all over her face, and a fat lip from a cut that Slade gave her. She had to look away from her reflection, because it was just too horrible to look at. She limped out her room and into the console room where the Doctor was working on his sonic screwdriver. He didn't look concentrated. He looked rather anxious. He had worried brows, his fingers were trembling and his lips were pressed together.

"Doctor?" Sarah Jane croaked.

The Doctor looked up from his sonic screwdriver and his face cracked into a relieved grin.

"Ah, Sarah, you're awake!" He cried happily, rushing towards her and giving her a bone crushing hug and a kiss on the top of her head.

"Ow," Sarah Jane said, smiling up at the Doctor's ridiculously huge grin.

"Sorry," the Doctor said, letting her go from the hug.

"I wasn't going to sleep forever," Sarah Jane said with a narrowed look.

"Of course not," The Doctor said.

"So, it was you that saved me?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Were you expecting somebody else?" The Doctor asked, grinning.

"Yes," Sarah Jane replied.

"Why?" The Doctor asked, his face falling.

"Because..." Sarah Jane started. She looked down to the ground and fidgeted a little. She tried hard not to burst into tears in front of the Doctor.

"Hmm?" The Doctor urged Sarah Jane to go on.

"I thought you went somewhere with the TARDIS to leave me there... Because I'm not good enough to be your companion," Sarah Jane said, her voice shaky, still looking at the floor.

The Doctor gave her a guilty and remorseful look. He sighed and said,

"Oh, Sarah, please sit down.

He pulled out a chair laying around and gestured Sarah Jane to sit down. Sarah Jane obliged and sat down. The Doctor crouched to her level and put a warm hand on her leg.

"Sarah, you are one of the most brilliant companions I've ever had. You mustn't take anything that I say to heart whenever I'm upset. Sometimes I don't know what I'm saying when I'm angry. Everything that I told you out of anger, I've never meant it. If it hurt you, I'm terribly sorry," the Doctor said with a deeper tone, lower than usual.

Sarah Jane smiled at the Doctor's apology and said,

"It's all right, Doctor. By the way, you looked like you've gone off the deep end when you were saving me."

"Of course, Sarah. You are one of the people that I care about. And I swore to myself that I would never forgive myself if anything happens to you. So, if it's to go off the deep end, I would do it. Sarah, I care about you, and I mean it. No matter what I say, Sarah, you are still my companion and I shall always care for you. And I've been waiting to say this. Sarah Jane, I love you." The Doctor replied in a very low tone, almost a whisper.

Sarah Jane gave him a teary eyed smile.

"Doctor, can I kiss you?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Yes, Sarah, you may," the Doctor whispered.

Sarah Jane leaned over slowly and the Doctor got on his knees. Their lips claimed each other, short and sweet. It hurt a little for Sarah Jane, because of that fat lip.

"Ow," she said.

"Sarah, are you all right, my dear?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, I'm great," Sarah Jane replied.

The Doctor grinned at Sarah Jane. "Good."

He pat both of Sarah Jane's legs and got up to the console to set the coordinates.

"Well, I think it's time for us to get out of this horrendous place and have ourselves another adventure," the Doctor said with an excited grin.

"Can we go somewhere that's not outrageous? I'm exhausted," Sarah Jane pleaded, going over to the Doctor's side

"I could never say no to you, Sarah," the Doctor replied, grinning down at Sarah Jane.

"Great," Sarah Jane smiled.

"That is… if the TARDIS cooperates," the Doctor said, with an apologetic smile.

"Doctor, as long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter where we go," Sarah Jane said.

The Doctor grinned at her words and kissed her at the part of her hair and continued to set the coordinates.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the story! Please read and review!


End file.
